Implications of night-party environment on emotional, physiological, and anatomical features in mammals: A simulation based study on Swiss mice

Abstract Audiovisual superstimuli at night parties have been concerning parents and public health authorities, mainly when it comes to the risk of drug abuse and violence. However, the effects of such stimuli on the mental health of night-party goers are little known. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate whether Swiss mice exposure to night-party environment simulations induces locomotor damages and predictive behavioral changes such as anxiety and memory deficit. Animals were exposed to audiovisual stimuli simulating a night-party environment for five consecutive days (6 h/day). Based on the collected data, the locomotor activity and the emotional state of animals subjected to audiovisual superstimuli [group sound (S) + light (L)] did not differ from the records of animals exposed to sound (group S) or visual (group V) stimulus in separate, or even from those of animals in the control group (C). Serum cortisol levels and results of histological analyses applied to the suprarenal glands suggested that the animals did not suffer stress due to the exposure procedure. However, mice in the S + L group recorded lower recognition index than the ones in the control group in the object recognition memory test, as well as lower latency to descend the platform in the inhibitory avoidance test. Therefore, the audiovisual superstimuli affected the short-term memory, which is related to object recognition and to aversive memory recall. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is novel in developing an apparatus and an exposure protocol to simulate a night-party environment to be used in further laboratory trials. In addition, results have shown that cognitive processes linked to short-term and aversive memory can be affected by audiovisual superstimuli; therefore, the current research warns about mental damages likely caused by night-party environments.